1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to active electro-optical imaging systems for searching object space. More particularly, this invention relates to imaging systems that require high pixel rates and programmable scan rates.
2. Description of the Background Art
Presently, there exist many types of imaging systems for searching object space for potential targets and for providing target position information to a sensor system to initiate and guide projectiles and/or missiles to the selected target. Such target position information may also be provided to a visual display device allowing visual review of the selected target for visual identification and prioritization of the selected target(s).
Militarily, there exists a need for a very precise imaging system that can detect and identify enemy targets with great precision. Current laser technology, coupled with state-of-the-art optics, can provide narrow beams that can be accurately placed to determine very precise target characteristics for detection and identification as well as precise target location compared to other deployed sensor systems. However, the very small beam size imposes significant limitations in data and scan rate requirements to cover a required field of view (FOV). Therefore, a laser radar (Ladar) applied to missile systems requires high pixel rates and programmable scan rates. Typical prior art systems employ the use of a rotating polygon scanner at high angular rates. In such scanners, mechanical systems are used to generate the angular steps that must be coupled to the pulse repetition frequency of the system. Unfortunately, such mechanical implementation reduces reliability, is inflexible and requires significant volume.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an improvement which overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art devices and provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to the advancement of the Ladar art.
Another object of the invention is to provide a scanner comprising an acoustic-optical laser scanner for deflecting a pulsed laser beam through a plurality of angles; means for diffracting the deflected laser beam from the acoustic-optical laser scanner into a plurality of laser beams; and a detector array including a plurality of detector elements respectively positioned to receive reflected energy from the respective plurality of laser beams, whereby a line scan is produced composed of a plurality of pixels.
The foregoing has outlined some of the pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.